The other thread about the most common blues jammers got me thinking about some of the more unusual instruments and musicians I've encountered at local blues jams.

1. The triangle player. A guy (who appeared to have had a couple of drinks too many) leaped out in front of the stage one night with triangle in hand. He then began to dance and play that triangle. Unfortunately he was definitely not hearing the same rhythm as the rest of the band...

2. The marimba player. You wouldn't think that it would classify as a blues instrument, but it actually works really well. And unlike the triangle dude, he's actually a monster musician.

3. The mandolin player. Again, you'd think it wouldn't fit into blues. But with the right person playing it, it also sounds great.

What are some of the most unusual instruments you've seen played?

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I've tried to think of an unusual instrument and a kazoo was played by a member of The Mothers Of Invention during their show at the old Kinetic Playground circa 1968 I thought it unusual. They were warming up for Canned Heat so might that qualify for a blues jam?

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

ive seen a jews harp and a mic'ed washtub bass.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Violin.

Not really so unusual if you've heard Dave :

http://www.livebluesworld.com/profile/DaveSugarbeet

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

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A "whistler". A guy got up there and instead of singing, he asked for a bit of extra reverb on the vocal mic and whistled the melody and some solos. It wasn't as good as it sounds...and it doesn't sound that great.

I've also played with a mandolin blues player. He was actually an 75-year-old white bluegrass/country player, but he got up and sat in with us on a couple of blues songs (it was an all-day, multi-genre jam session/crawfish boil, and we were the blues band). At first I thought, "Oh, no...", but the guy rocked! Afterwards I asked where he learned to play blues on a mandolin, and he said, "When I was a kid I lived down the street from a black family. I learned to play mandolin and guitar from that old man, so I played blues before I played bluegrass...bluegrass paid the bills, though, and blues wouldn't. Thank you for letting me play with y'all." I guess I needed to open my mind a bit that day.

Electric Sitar. It actually worked very well, sounded a little like a Dobro on acid.

Trombone player. Sax, trumpet, coronet--I understand those...but a trombone? It worked better than I thought, though. Almost like a baritone guitar.

Tenor guitar. It was just kinda weird, but it sounded pretty good.

Fiddle...it was ok.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Screamin':

Well I play in a Jazz Big Band... And I can tell you that a trombone will work with the blues... With the correct player of course..

I have heard mandolins before on recorded blues... and I dont care for that sound at all... Just my personal preference...

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In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

Oh man, but jazz blues is full of great trombone playing. And come to think of it I've come across it in various guitar based settings too. To be sure, usually in the backing line rather than out front, but when they finally give that guy a solo sometimes he's all the more keen to make up the ground.

Anyhow. When I was a kid there was a pub where local acoustic instrument players would gather of a Sunday lunchtime for an impromptu jam. Mostly it was folk and Celtic type music, so those were the sorts of instruments that were brought. But every once in a while it kinda took off on a blues jaunt and everyone joined in - I've seen Southern blues played on violins, mandolins, piano accordions, Northumbrian pipes, hammer dulcimers, tin whistles and harps. And I do mean a harp - not a harmonica.

Strange but true. And weird - yet oddly good!

Cheers - C

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Back in the 90's there was a local blues band that had a female violinist that blended very very well in the band...

Sam Taylor Band...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/novaron/3107794871/

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In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

I guess you're right-- I always thought of it as being purely an orchestral instrument or a jazz instrument (I love Frank Rosolino's work as a band leader), and of course a New Orleans "Second Line" instrument.

I guess it gave me a mindwhack because most of the blues jams I've involved in, it was mostly "Texas" or "Gulf Coast" styles of blues were being played...the guy did his craft some justice, though.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

[quote="Screamin' Armadillo
I guess it gave me a mindwhack because most of the blues jams I've involved in, it was mostly "Texas" or "Gulf Coast" styles of blues were being played...the guy did his craft some justice, though.[/quote]


"gulf coast" what?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Hee-hee! No, a trombone is just exactly what you don't expect to find in that sort of music, to be sure!

Mind you, in a different part of the blues I'm old enough ( ) to remember when Ry Cooder first invited an accordion player to come on stage with him. People were looking round at each other saying; "What the f...?" I dunno but I thought that guy had total soul! I loved it, and the audience the night I was there seemed to get it too.

Scratching my brain to remember that accordion player's name...

Oh dear, let's not tell TexasGuitarSlinger just how many years before she was born that must have been. Where's my walking stick?

Cheers - C

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It used to be weird for me to think that a lot if not most of the music I like to listen was written a recorded before I was born. Now I think I'm used to it.

I've actually seen an accordion in a blues band before too. I saw Jimmie Vaughan at Antone's about a year and a half ago and he had quite a band going. In addition to a second guitar, drums and bass he had two tenor sax players, a baritone sax player, and an accordion player. At first I sort of wondered what was going on since I had never seen an accordion player in that kind of setting before. But it was pretty cool, kind of like a Tejano B-3, if that makes any sense. Screamin' Armadillo probably knows what I mean. Lol The Accordion sounded basically like a keyboard would in context with the band, but with a slightly different sound which I wouldn't have been able to put my finger on had I not seen it.

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I'm going to write a blues song for the hurdy gurdy

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TGS-
Yes, I do know what you mean by a Tejano B-3...that is cool that JV did that; I would love to have seen that.

Flaco Jimenez and LeeRoy Parnell recorded some Tejano Blues stuff together off and on, and I always thought the Texas Tornados were just half a beat away from being a blues band.

Those were some bad, bad men! Mercy!

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

I've seen a violin player...

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.